The Lioness
by Molly Rosie
Summary: Albus, James, and Fred are studying when they encounter a Ravenclaw friend of Al's who has a little crush on Fred. Patronuses come into play. No slash Rating because I'm paranoid. FredxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Note: So I don't think I'll continue this, but if I get a lot of reviews then I'll just keep it going. Lot's of reviews please! LOTS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the books, the characters, or anything else but I do own the plot and Deena so**_** hands off!**_

About an hour before curfew, the sixth year Deena Plish stumbled up to the fat lady painting guarding Gryffindor tower.

"What do you want you pale little _Ravenclaw_?"

"Um, I, I need to get into the tower. I have the password."

"And exactly what business of yours is in the tower, nerd?"

"I need to meet my friend Al. We were going to study for our Defense Against Dark Arts test to-tomorrow."

"Al? Albus Potter? No you must be lying, that Al is a good boy, and he's a prefect you know."

"Well, I'm a prefect to!" She pleaded. "A-Al and I go on patrol together every other Tuesday night."

"Well if Albus can vouch for you _and_ you have the password…maybe I'll let you in."

"O. That's the password right?"

The lady didn't respond, but gave Deena a harsh look before throwing open the door to the Gryffindor common room where Al was waiting alone in an armchair in front of the fireplace.

"Hey Deena, the fat lady didn't give you a hard time did she?"

"Actually she, um no she was fine." She lied. Al sighed to himself. He knew the fat lady hated students from other houses visiting. But of course Deena was to shy to say anything. It wasn't her fault. Al knew her muggle family had mistreated her. It was actually rather sad how unconfident in herself the girl could be. Her black hair was scooped up into its usual messy bun. Her tie was crooked, her shirt was untucked and she kept pushing her to big glasses back up her nose. Al realized what a horrible state her appearance was in. And not just lately, she had been like this all six years.

She could be gorgeous if she bothered to try. But instead she looked like hell. Al had gotten into more than a few fights with Gryffindor boys talking about what Deena's legs would look like if she could stop scraping them as she tripped by.

Al's train of thoughts was abruptly ended when Deena's foot caught under the end of a rug. She fell flat on her face, spilling her notes all over the empty common room floor. While he was helping her pick everything up, two seventh year boys walked out of the dorms. One of said boys began wolf whistling at Deena while the other said. "Who's your _pretty_ friend Al?" She wasn't stupid; Deena knew they'd stop when they saw her face, but for now all they saw was a girl with father issues on her knees. So she sniffed and kept compiling her papers.

"Shut up James!" Al retorted. He could see that she was trying to hide her tears. "Leave Deena alone, she's here to help us study." With that Deena and Al stood up and he introduced the seventh years. "The whistling idiot is my cousin Fred," He said pointing to the tanned boy. "And the other one is my brother James."

James decided to make his own introduction "Au chante madame." He drawled as he stooped to kiss Deena's hand. It was rather awkward, as James was well over six feet tall and Deena was barely average height.

"Mademoiselle." She said so softly it was almost a whisper.

"Pardon?"

"Mademoiselle." Al repeated as James let go of her hand. "You should have called her mademoiselle, madame is an older or married woman."

"Oh please forgive me…er, Deena was it?" James said overdramatically.

Fred was not as theatrical. "So you're the brilliant Ravenclaw that's supposed to help me and Jamesie study?"

Deena gave a shy nod. "L-let's get started. Um we really need to review battles of the Death Eaters, dangerous creatures, and the Patronus charm. So, er, let's get started."

As they sat around a table and read over notes, Al noticed Deena was a bit uncomfortable. More so than usual. She only ever relaxed when she was reading a book. And she kept dropping her quill or spilling her ink every time Fred asked her a question. And each time James overdramatically flirted, she looked like she might have an asthma attack from sheer fright. But Al also tried not to notice how freaked out Deena was when she accidently brushed Fred's foot. The girl looked something like a frightened fawn. But for now, Al just focused on thestrals.

After quit some time reading, the group cleared a large area in the middle of the common room to practice their Patronus charm.

"Now remember Deena," Al said as the four of them stood in a circle, wands out, "just think of a happy memory and the rest will work itself out."

"Could you, er, show me how to do it?" She asked shyly, hating for Al to think she was incompetent.

"Sure." Al closed his eyes, remembering when his parents brought baby Lily home from St. Mungo's. "Expecto Patronum." He said calmly. Then a large horse practically leapt out of his wand, pranced about the room, reared on its hind legs in front of him, and disappeared. The others were staring at him in amazement. Trying to move the attention away from himself Al said, "Okay James, you give it a go."

James tried to relive meeting Alice Longbottom, the on again off again love of his life. And he produced a stag, which pawed at the floor, bowed to him and promptly vanished. Both Deena and Fred tried time and again but neither could produce even a faint patronus. Until James interjected, "What memory are you using Fred?"

"My sorting."

"Try something else, try when you won the quidittch cup."

Fred focused and whispered the spell and to his amazement, a large lion appeared on the floor in front of him, pawing at his main. "Wow, I had no idea I was a lion, a weasel maybe, but a lion?"

"Well I'm going to head up to bed, night Fred." James said as he sauntered up the stairs.

"Yeah me to, would you mind walking Deena back to her dormitory Fred?" And Al followed his brother up the stairs.

Fred was now extremely happy that Deena was now the only one unable to perform the charm so he went and stood next to her. "So what was your memory dear?"

"Getting m-my Hogwarts letter."

"That's it?"

"It was kind of a big, um a big deal for me. I'm muggle born. Proved to my family that I'm not a _total_ weirdo."

"Well, try some thing older. Some happy memory from your childhood."

Deena snorted and mumbled some thing like _Don't have many of those, now do I?_ But Fred ignored it. "All right, got the memory?" She simply nodded. Fred looked over and oddly enough his lion still hadn't disappeared, it was still on the floor. But then again he was still kind of thinking about the Quidittch cup.

She whispered the spell to herself and immediately something began circling around Deena and Fred. "What animal is it?" He asked.

"I-I have no idea." She said softly. Then the blob slowly transformed itself into a beautiful lioness. Fred turned to Deena and looked at her quizzically. "What, I d-didn't pick it."

"I guess that means we have something in common." He said skeptically. At that the lioness gingerly pranced over to the lion, lay down next to him, and they began grooming each other causing their human counterparts to blush ferociously.

As the lions disappeared, the two left the common room and began the walk to Ravenclaw Tower.

"So what memory did you end up using?" Fred asked.

"When I f-finally told my father to stop calling me an unholy freak." She murmured, missing her horrible family immensely.

"Oh, um I'm really sorry. My dad's aunt and uncle were like that."

"Yeah, I don't think my dad and I can really, um p-patch things up again after that." Fred hesitantly wrapped his arm around her shoulders, wondering weather it would be a good or bad idea to bring this girl to his father's joke shop.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: So I don't think I'll continue this, but if I get a lot of reviews then I'll just keep it going. Lot's of reviews please! LOTS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the books, the characters, or anything else but I do own the plot and Deena so**_** hands off!**_

It was James' plan really, but Fred would take full credit if this went accordingly. However if the plan failed, it was entirely James' fault. Fred was making his way up the fourth flight of stairs to reach Ravenclaw Tower on a regular Friday afternoon after the end of classes. "Merlin's beard! How do they make it up and down this thing everyday?" He finally reached the top of the seemingly never-ending stairs and was greeted by a bronze, eagle head knocker. Everyone at Hogwarts knew that Ravenclaws were the only ones clever enough to solve the riddles the eagle asked. And naturally James had planned a way around this. James had arranged for Lorcan Lovegood-Scamander, a Ravenclaw first year and good friend, to give Fred the answer to the current riddle.

_ You put me in dry but then I get wet. The longer I stay in, the stronger I get. What am I? A teabag._

Fred had memorized both the riddle and its answer word for word. So he was confident to say the least when the eagle spoke to him.

"Answer this riddle and-"

"Yeah, just give me a second okay. I need to catch my breath."

"And you will be granted entrance to-"

"Just get on with the riddling please, you daft bird."

"At night I come without being fetched. By day I am lost without being stolen. What am I?"

"Oh no." Fred suddenly found a hole in James' plan. The eagle changes the riddle regularly. "Um, a teabag?" He answered hesitantly.

"Incorrect."

"Listen here you metal chicken." Fred was nose to beak with the eagle and he was not backing down. "I did not walk up those stairs, huffing and puffing, only to trudge all the way back down, defeated. Now let me in."

"Stars." Said a meek voice behind Fred. He turned to see Lysander Lovegood-Scamander, Lorcan's twin brother. "The answer is stars."

"Correct. You may proceed." At the eagle's words the door swung open and Fred followed Lysander inside to the Ravenclaw common room. Fred was sure he'd never seen so many books in one place outside of a library.

"Thanks mate, you're a life saver. Say you wouldn't happen to know where I could find a sixth year named Deena, would you?"

"Deena Plish?" Lysander asked. "Check the muggle fiction section."

"Pardon?"

Lysander rolled his eyes and pointed to a section of bookshelves on the opposite side of the room. "She usually studies over there."

"Oh, right thanks." Fred strode across the common room without seeming to care that he was out of place. Even as Ravenclaws looked up from their parchments and books at him, Fred maintained that Gryffindor swagger.


End file.
